** Lee's Barn ** Current status 'OPERATION PIKEY VAN'

Finally, Im back where I was before the engine went bang. OK, a bit down on power, but plenty to have fun with, and hopefully a bit more low end grunt.

Todays jobs were to fit my new strut brace, the rod bolts, and my 1.8 sump from the old engine, as well as fit the manifold and top up the fluids. One of the inlet tappets was loud as feck for 15 or so minutes. Got a bit worried, but eventually it shut up, so alls looking good.

Roll on Llandow!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...y/DSC00185.jpg

glad to see it back together again bud..

whats the deal with the 1.8 sump ?

It doesnt have the big ass sensor (which isnt used) in the side of it, so no welding is required to plug the gap. its also lighter lol

Plus you can use the rubber gaskets which are ten times better than the cork ones.

what engine do they come off? may invest in one as i got standard but cut plug off sensor and got the rubber gasket on..

1.8 8v or 2.0 8v i believe pal. Its more rounded and black in colour.

nice one cheers..

It'a alive yah Mr LEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Good to here its Alive :)

Following on from the reshell of my track car last winter, Ive decided to use one thread for all my projects to keep it all neat, so i have merged my reshell thread with this one.

So anyway, story so far.

My track car has suffered badly this year, two catastrophic engine failiures in as many visits to Combe, but I did get a good go in it at Llandow, so im not hugely upset. Engine goodies will follow this winter.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...8092007071.jpg

My SR has also had an eventful winter. The amount of parts ive changed on this blighter is mind boggling. I finally got it roughly where I wanted it and it got drowned in the floods earlier in the year. It now needs a full set of wheel bearings, and the gearbox is definately on the way out, the fronts starting to rot and the MOT runs out next month.

Hayley and myself decided we were going to sell it and buy a nice minty mint 1.2, but I just couldnt let it go (look at it ffs, how often do breeze blue SR's in this condition come up?) SO Ive decided to put it next to the green one in the barn, and slowly do the last bits of work it needs (front panel mainly), slap a valver in it, and give it the handmedowns from the green one as I uprate it. The plan is to have a spare track car / road car for shows, but its going to be done slowly as to not suck any funds from the track car.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...y/PICT0218.jpg

So Hayley needed a car. This little gem popped up in the forsale section so I called Jon, who owned it straight away, had a chat about how lame the brakes are, was convinced that he was an honest bloke, and paypalled a deposit. One week later, we went up to meet him, confirmed he is very honest, and also a top bloke!

Dragged it back from Stafford, and we're well pleased with it, it just needs a tiny bit of cosmetic work and some other bits and bobs.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...y/IMG_1449.jpg

Any work I do on all 3 cars will now be posted in this thread :thumb:

So.. we shall kick off with the lil 1.2 as i want to get it on t'road ASAP.

No sooner that we had the thing parked in the barn, Hayles weilded a screwdriver and wanted to learn how to gut an interior lol. So the first job was to rip out all the innards!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...y/DSC00220.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...y/DSC00221.jpg

The only part of a GSI interior I had up there was a set of rear cards kindly donated by Mr Christian (aka the Stick). So i showed her how to fit them.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...y/DSC00222.jpg

The rest of the innards are currently residing in the SR, so were dragging it up from Newbury tomorrow to join its siblings, and we'll swap the rest over. Ive a feeling the SR will become a shed for a little while lol


Then I was informed she wanted the rubber mouldings removed, and the pinstripe gone. Out came the 'wheel of fudge'

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...y/DSC00223.jpg

Yet more proof this is the ONLY way to get rid of sticky mess left by mouldings. we had one side cleaned up in about 15 mins! Then me batterys on me drill went flat, so we decided to call it a day.

Tomorrow will involve 35mm springs, a cheeky set of MO's, 256mm brakes and some interior refitting :)


Im after some GTE bumpers and skirts cheap, preferably in the south as well :)

A backup track car sounds like a good plan.

Engine plans for the current car?

Take my time over a strong engine build over the winter. If money allows it, a 230bhp target, and a SCCR with either a gripper or ATB diff. :)

If money doesnt allow it, another cheap XE to spread all over a circuit somewhere lol

3rd time lucky lol
New shell looks a right minter :)

The wee Nova L looks like a good one :)

Its alarmingly clean. The only rust it has is surface, small bit on the bottom of one of the quarters, and a few crusty bits in the bay. Nothing a bit o rust stopper and paint wont sort! Other than that, just the odd dent youd expect from a car this age not being sold for eleventy million pounds!

the sr need's xe, and 14" sri steelies :cool:

when will f isnt looking just nick his engine, he dosent drive the nova enough to notice

Good find mate and im on earlys this week if you need a hand just call. im shifting a cav for Dougie tomorrow but just call if you need a hand.
I also have a spare GTE back bumper you can have. it aint that good as 1 of the hangers is broken but you can take the lipped out bit at the bottom of and refit it to the one yours came with.

woah! me n jb were in stitches seein this so quick.. he told me today u'de collected it middayish..
Glad its gone ok, it should be a loyal servant to you.
If i hadn't been at work mate ide have popped over...
Did he offer you a cuppa??
Hooked on the stuff he is lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stuart

when will f isnt looking just nick his engine, he dosent drive the nova enough to notice

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Shut it Gayer

Its probably melted a piston just sat on my drive. If Lee had it, it would implode in transit

nice find :) keep it up

New one looks a bit like Keiths daily driver.

I'll keep an eye here.

Looking good there Lee, if id had known you were over in Stafford i would have popped over.
Actually, no i wouldnt as my Nova at that time was un accounted for lol

Looks and sounds promising though, and your barn is starting to sound like my driveway lol hahaha

well done my son, all looking good there, run around looks very clean aswell :thumb:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by peester

woah! me n jb were in stitches seein this so quick.. he told me today u'de collected it middayish..
Glad its gone ok, it should be a loyal servant to you.
If i hadn't been at work mate ide have popped over...
Did he offer you a cuppa??
Hooked on the stuff he is lol

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lmao, im going for shock and awe! Got lots done today, pics will appear below in a few mins.

Yep, cupper offered, but had to decline as we wanted to get back and rip it to pieces lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Will F

Shut it Gayer

Its probably melted a piston just sat on my drive. If Lee had it, it would implode in transit

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Many a true word is spoken in jest. I can make engines explode just by looking at them!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Last Of The Nova SR'S

Looking good there Lee, if id had known you were over in Stafford i would have popped over.
Actually, no i wouldnt as my Nova at that time was un accounted for lol

Looks and sounds promising though, and your barn is starting to sound like my driveway lol hahaha

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I didnt hang around long. We'll catch up soon no doubt!

Looking good lee !

You're car will be a right monster once it's up to Dar specification lol

Hope everything goes well...

Loaded the SR up and dragged it to bristol, the first job was a repeat of yesterday.. Gut the interior. Hayleys a quick learner and started the refit with ease. Looks well at home in there too!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../DSC002232.jpg

Next on the list was to get it up on axle stands, remove the immensly tiny wheels, and rip out the suspension and brakes. Hayley then brandished a paintbrush and a tin of underseal, and gave the inner arches a good coating ( I plan to completely underseal it at some point but there wasnt enough time today) Also dropped the rear beam and slipped in some cheeky -35mm springs I had knocking about.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../DSC002242.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../DSC002222.jpg

At this point we took a trip up to Dar's to borrow his spring compressors, and another cheeky pair of springs were fitted (cheers as always lover)

Next up was pop the SR up in the air and steal its brakes while it wasnt looking. Struts back on, brakes fitted and bled up.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...y/DSC00226.jpg

I picked up some colour matched paint on the way over, so we rubbed down the boot slam panel which looked like it had a fair few concrete blocks dropped on it!

Before
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...y/DSC00227.jpg

After
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...y/DSC00228.jpg

Next up was a quick clean of the MO's and drop it on the floor. Then I wielded the fudge wheel again and got rid of the rest of the nasty goo left by the mouldings.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...y/DSC00230.jpg

I also debadged the back end and swapped the grab handle with the SR's as Stu (SR's previous owner) did a lovely job of spraying it up

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...y/DSC00231.jpg

I also painted up some of the crusty bits after treating them, and painted half the wing (no pics of this till ive flatted it back tomorrow)

All it needs now is some GTE bumpers and skirts, and hopefully Hayles will be happy! I think a cally steeringwheel may be on the cards soo as the current one is a lil bitdated, although very cool!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...y/DSC00232.jpg



When I got home, something had arrived in the post...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...y/DSC00234.jpg

Guess what IM doing tomorrow!!!

Looks even better now

im loving mk1's atm and this is mint! personally i'd leave it as is, maybe a tad lower, but I guess it's up to Hayley.

Both bumpers are feckered, so it may as well have GTe items, especially as the bottom of the front panel is a little bit crusty. The height is perfect i rekon, and the standard shocks make for a lovely boaty ride so she's happy, as she hated how rough the SR was (although I loved it lol)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bottlethroddy

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...y/DSC00234.jpg

Guess what IM doing tomorrow!!!

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Err forgive my stupidity but whats them then lol???

Full set of Polycarbs :)

looking good mate.

jobs a goodun..

also got my polycarb winows today aswel..:thumb:

sweet mate !!!!! nice looking

All looking great! I hope you have the window rubbers we ordered ages ago in a safe place. Well a safe place that you can find that is, and not one of those uber safe places that refuse to be found:eek:
You now have as many cars as melol

do you want a bumper BT? i'l swap you come weld my bay and you can have it

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dar

All looking great! I hope you have the window rubbers we ordered ages ago in a safe place. Well a safe place that you can find that is, and not one of those uber safe places that refuse to be found:eek:
You now have as many cars as melol

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Yep, i know exactly where it is :thumb:



Sorry Tim, I cant weld for sh1t mate lol (well, not to a standard where id weld someone elses car anyway)

The new motor looks very cool indeed. Better than with gte bumpers imo, but if the originals are damaged.....
Needs a nice backbox and clear front indicators :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dar

I hope you have the window rubbers we ordered ages ago in a safe place. Well a safe place that you can find that is, and not one of those uber safe places that refuse to be found:eek:

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lol I've lost numerous things in those 'safe' places, still no idea where they are now :confused:

Coming along nicely Lee, will look smart with the GTE bumpers and as LLTN said, some clear indicators would look cool. Where'd you get the polycarbs from and can you tell me if they are a good fit as I'm after some? :thumb:

the 1.2 looks like a great find and its looking great, glad to hear that you want to keep the sr.